Direct coupling of electronic excitations of optical energy via plasmon resonances opens the door to improving gain and selectivity in various optoelectronic applications. We report a new device structure and working mechanisms for plasmon resonance energy detection and electric conversion based on a thin film transistor device with a metal nanostructure incorporated in it. This plasmon field effect transistor collects the plasmonically induced hot electrons from the physically isolated metal nanostructures. These hot electrons contribute to the amplification of the drain current. The internal electric field and quantum tunneling effect at the metal-semiconductor junction enable highly efficient hot electron collection and amplification. Combined with the versatility of plasmonic nanostructures in wavelength tunability, this device architecture offers an ultrawide spectral range that can be used in various applications.
Cancers and many other diseases, such as hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and cardiovascular diseases (CVD), have threatened human lives for centuries. Therefore, a novel technique for such disease prediction is in an urgent demand for timely treatment. Biomarkers, alpha-L-fucosidase (AFU) for HCC and cardiac troponin I (cTnI) for CVD, have proven to be essential in the role of disease detection. Herein, we report on an ultrasensitive plasmonic biosensor that converts plasmonic absorption to electrical current in order to detect AFU and cTnI using whole human blood in a real-time and parallel fashion. The detection limit was calculated to be 0.016 U/L for AFU and 0.015 ng/mL for cTnI, respectively. Combined with the versatility of the strategies for different biomarkers, these results demonstrate that the developed biosensor exhibits a promising application for the prediction of cancers and many other diseases.
By immobilizing glycopolymers onto the surface of the recently developed plasmonic field effect transistor (FET), the recognition between lectins and surface-immobilized glycopolymers can be detected over a wide dynamic range (10 to 10 M) in an environment that resembles the glycocalyx. The binding to the sensor surface by various lectins was tested, and the selectivities and relative binding affinity trends observed in solution were maintained on the sensor surface, and the significantly higher avidities are attributed to cluster-glycoside effects that occur on the surface. The combination of polymer surface chemistry and optoelectronic output in this device architecture produces amongst the highest reported detection sensitivity for ConA. This work demonstrates the benefits that arise from combining emerging device architectures and soft-matter systems to create cutting edge nanotechnologies that lend themselves to fundamental biological studies and integration into point-of-use diagnostics and sensors.
To improve Plasmonic energy harvesting, the Al doped ZnO (AZO) and Si heterojunction was studied for plasmonic photovoltaic applications. Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) were embedded in AZO, resulting in direct energy absoption from Ag NPs, positioned close to the junction. This structure has a benefit of avoiding highly doped lossy layers of conventional solar cell structures. Al doped ZnO (AZO) was deposited on n-Si substrate by dual beam sputtering method to fabricate AZO/Si heterojunction solar cells. AZO provides a transparent current spreading effect and rectifying junction with n type silicon (Si). Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) were embedded in AZO film (240-270 nm thick) with a sandwich-like structure. The position of Ag NPs in the AZO film was controlled to be located at 10, 20 and 40 nm distance from the Si absorber layer. Fabricated solar cells show improved performance in terms of the short circuit current (J(sc)) and the quantum efficiency (QE). Finite difference time domain (FDTD) simulations were carried out to investigate the QE enhancement and optimize photocurrent gain under an AM1.5G solar spectrum. In calculation, absorption enhancement is maximized when Ag NPs are located close to the Si layer in the range of 10-40 nm. Experimentally, 20 nm distance of Ag NPs from the Si showed the best performance with 0.36 V of open circuit voltage (V(oc)), 28.3 mA/cm2 of J(sc) and 5.91% of coversion efficiency. The QE showed 15% of enhancement around lambda = 435 nm and 5-10% of enhancement within lambda = 600-1000 nm.
We successfully demonstrate the synthesis of lead zirconate titanate nanoparticles (PZT NPs) and a ferroelectric device using the synthesized PZT NPs. The crystalline structure and the size of the nanocrystals are studied using x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy, respectively. We observe <100 nm of PZT NPs and this result matches dynamic light scattering measurements. A solution-based low-temperature process is used to fabricate PZT NP-based devices on an indium tin oxide substrate. The fabricated ferroelectric devices are characterized using various optical and electrical measurements and we verify ferroelectric properties including ferroelectric hysteresis and the ferroelectric photovoltaic effect. Our approach enables low-temperature solution-based processes that could be used for various applications. To the best of our knowledge, this low-temperature solution processed ferroelectric device using PZT NPs is the first successful demonstration of its kind.
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